On Monday in Washington, D.C., an agreement was signed between American company NuScale Power and the Polish KGHM mining company to build nuclear reactors in Poland.
“We decided that Poland’s strategic partner in nuclear energy will be the United States and American companies. Both in building a conventional, large nuclear power plant, as well as introducing Small Modular Reactors (SMR),” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin said during his visit to Washington.
He added that there were hopes that the first reactors will be able to start operating within the next seven to eight years.
“We decided that the best fuel in our energy mix which will introduce stability, security and compliment fuels coming from renewable energy sources; wind, solar and water, will be nuclear energy,” the Ministry of State Assets quoted Sasin as saying.
KGHM CEO Marcin Chudziński emphasized the strategic aspect of the project for the company — both when it comes to the challenges connected to energy prices and Poland’s geopolitical situation.
“I hope that this agreement, which entails the preparation of investments in economic and technical terms, will be an opportunity not only for KGHM, but for other industrial companies and maybe even Polish citizens,” he stated.
NuScale announced the agreement on Monday in an official statement.
“Under this agreement, NuScale will work with KGHM to support the deployment of SMR technology, and together, the organizations will take steps toward deploying a first NuScale VOYGR™ power plant in Poland as early as 2029, which would help Poland avoid up to 8 million tons of CO2 emissions per year,” the company explained.
NuScale also announced that in the first stage, both companies will point to and evaluate potential areas for nuclear projects and work out milestones for the endeavors, as well as estimate costs.
